Website Marketing Blunders

The website is the focal point of every business online. Find out how to avoid making mistakes and bring customers to your online doorstep.

Without a doubt a web site is the online hub of any business today. Whether you have a bricks-and-mortar company, an online business or a combination of the two, most people will use the web to search, verify, learn more, understand and interact with you and your business. Without a web site you are practically non-existent to the virtual, yet very real online world.

Having your web presence in top notch condition should be of primary importance to anybody who cares about their business and how their web site can positively or negatively affect it. So how do you ensure that you are getting the most out of your website? First you must learn what not to do.

Here are the most common web site blunders that you should avoid to ensure that your web site is maximizing your online potential:

Avoid:

1. Domain names that don’t match your business name

Having a different URL than your actual business name or product is confusing and harder for people to remember. It can be challenging for people to find your site especially if the URL for your business name is taken by another company, thus sending your traffic elsewhere. The faster and simpler you can get people to your site, the better.

Extra tips:

– Even if you get your URL to match your business name, buy variations that people may misspell or hyphenate to avoid competitors that may want to take advantage of your marketing efforts.

– Avoid using hyphens in your main web address as it’s hard for people to remember the hyphen, thus you’ll be sending people elsewhere or doing free marketing for somebody else’s web site.

2. Template sites that don’t reflect your company’s image

Template sites may be good for start-ups that have low marketing budgets and need to have some basic level of web representation. However web site templates, especially the free or cheap ones may be very limiting in design and overall interface capabilities, as well as limited functionality.

If your business has been around for years and you have any marketing budget at all, it would be wise to design a site that truly reflects your brand, company image and quality of products or services you provide.

First impression of a web site says a lot about a business in a visitor’s mind, so make sure that you don’t cheap-out on your web site design and image. Make sure it truly represents your business in every way.